DoR Update

Dear friends, members, supporters and players, it feels like Xmas Eve, as we get set to embark upon our return to Braywick. The pandemic, and associated lockdowns have been extremely tough for many, but I really hope that we are moving closer now, to a full return to an open society, including rugby!

It has been a while since I’ve written to you all, but I assure you, I and the whole of the Committee have been working very hard behind the scenes to ensure that Maidenhead RFC is in the best place possible, despite a very difficult 12 months.

I am extremely excited for the return to training tomorrow of the Senior squad, marshalled by our indefatigable Head Coach, Mobbsy, and of course ably supported by Greens. Bolstered by some new faces (more on that in due course), and some exciting returnees, we are extremely confident in the strength of this squad, and feel we have the armory to ultimately compete in the upper echelons of London + SE Prem, and also in the Raging Bull league for our 2nd XV. I have boldly claimed that promotion is our aim, and with the undoubted class in our squad, I’m not afraid to put that pressure on ourselves and make our target public. We are aware of very strong competition in our new league from the likes of Wimbledon and Sutton, recent Nat 2 participants, as well as other great clubs, such as Tring, Hertford and Dorking. Can’t wait!

We can however, announce a new addition to our Coaching staff, as Michael Davies joins the club, as 1st XV Team Manager, after proving to be the outstanding candidate in a pool of very talented applicants. Michael played Senior rugby at Grove, before retiring early, aged 29 due to concussion, and looks forward to coming aboard the Maids Train, helping us be more professional on Match and Training days, alongside the wonderful Ed Parrott too. Great to have you Mike, welcome to the best club in the World.

As always, the first place we look for playing talent, is internally, and this week, I look forward to meeting with Colts Head Coach, Mike Andrew, and Director of Player Development, Duncan Jones to identify those lads not pursuing University, with the ultimate aim of keeping them involved at the club, and making that transition to Senior rugby as smooth as possible.

As is to be expected, we also have some leavers, and with a heavy heart, we say goodbye to Jon Cranton, who is relocating back to Worcester. Jon joined from local rivals Reading, where he was 1st XV captain, and totally threw himself into the club, on and off the field. Jon would always put up his hand to come and help on a Sunday morning, and a measure of the man, is that when Covid hit, he offered help to pay subs for any young lads that may be struggling- what a top fella, and will always be a ‘Maids boy’.

We must also sadly bid farewell to Andy Berry, who, after a change of working circumstances, will be returning to his home club, Chinnor. ‘Bez’ has been a superstar since joining us from local friends Rams, converting from prop to back row, winning Player’s Player in his debut season, and scoring some quite ridiculous tries. We truly thank him for all of his efforts in the last 2 years. Don’t be a stranger mate!

In the Junior and Mini section, I would like to thank everyone who joined me on Sunday mornings for our Zoom training sessions- at one point, we had in excess of 250 participants! I cannot wait, however, to see all the smiling faces in person this coming Sunday. Please do come and say hello if you see me, and please remind me if I owe you a Mars bar 🙂

I would also like to thank all of the Senior squad players who gave up their Sunday mornings to join ‘fat Joe Wickes’ (me) for a workout. Namely, Cai Andrew, Dave Kilcoyne, Will Macaulay, Ed Keohane, Phil Wells and Nik Pass- top lads- I owe you a beer.

Mobbsy has continued with his brilliant Coach Education sessions over Zoom, while Dave Pepper, Darryl Humphreys and Mike Andrew have continued their quite sterling work on the Club Coaching Accreditation Scheme- all of these sessions have massively contributed to our #oneclub ethos, as well as undoubtedly improving all of our talented coaches, so well done to all.

Since his appointment as Director of Women’s Rugby, Steve Jones has been extremely busy planning, plotting, encouraging and cajoling, and our Ladies (newly named the ‘Iron Maidens’) make their hotly-anticipated return to training this coming Thursday. Please keep an eye out on social media, and our newsletters for further information on the Iron Maidens and their fixtures, and also the progress of our girl’s U13 side in due course. If you are interested in playing, coaching or helping either the Woman’s or Girl’s teams, then please do message Steve on stephenjones9@aol.com

Well, that’s it from me, have a fantastic time back at training, and please do keep your eyes peeled for upcoming events- it’s vital that we all come together to support our amazing club…

#bleedmagenta

Director of Rugby Update

Hello all, it is my very sincere hope that this update bucks the recent trend of sparking regression in our pathway to returning to rugby. Indeed, it feels as though every time I have written to our members displaying some optimism, we are cruelly hit with further bad news and restrictions! However, this time, the signs do look more promising, and we are delighted to welcome people back to the club from this coming Thursday, December 3rd.

Despite the challenges of lockdown, and the temptation to shut up shop and simply ride it out, I am so enthused with the attitude and energy of the people in this great club, and would like to outline just a few of the brilliant things that have been happening in the last month.

You may recall a fleeting mention in my last update, of the framework we are looking to implement across the club, to ensure, amongst other things, common language, coaching principles, ethos, content and many more aspects are ‘formalised’ across the club. This, I firmly believe ensures we are all singing off the same hymn sheet, with some very key club outcomes aligned, such as keeping players engaged post-25, having fun, a true ‘one-club’ ethos (not just talking about it), a community of sharing and collaboration between coaches, club sections and age groups and much more!

Over the past 3 weeks, we have held Zoom sessions every Tuesday and Thursday evening, with separate age groups, focusing on the technical and tactical elements of this framework. We have discussed topics such as common language, developmental milestones, providing content, sources of expertise etc. I could not be more pleased with the levels of engagement we have seen from virtually all of the age groups at the club, and our Club Coaching Co-ordinator, David Pepper messaged just yesterday, to say we have had 120 members present across these meetings- outstanding! My gratitude goes to everyone involved in these webinars, but I reserve special thanks and praise, to our Seniors Head Coach, Mobbsy, who put an incredible amount of time and effort into producing the content for these sessions, and then talking them through with everyone, quite brilliant.

I believe we are already well underway to realising our goal of having an exceptionally collaborative and sharing rugby Community, and I believe the engagement we have seen over the last month, from all corners of our club illustrates that perfectly.

On the topic of engagement, this week, some of the members of our senior squad took the time to record a video, to send to individual age groups, setting them a small challenge each. Ed Keohane, Lewis Jones, Dave Kilcoyne, Jon Cranton, Will Macaulay, Duncan Jones, Josh Ashby, Cai Andrew and Ben Mitchell, you are absolute superstars, and I know that all of the kids for whom you have kindly done a video will hugely appreciate it.

I often talk about culture, and the special environment at Maids, and I’d be willing to bet that very few clubs in the country will have members of the 1st XV taking time during lockdown to record videos for the kids in the Junior section. I continue to be extremely proud as to how the members of our Senior section conduct themselves, and provide great role models to our kids.

On Monday just gone, we held a Zoom meeting for all of our Age Group Managers, which I felt was hugely beneficial, and my thanks to all the attendees and Chris Woji for arranging, There were some excellent ideas and suggestions, many of which we are actioning, including a welcome pack for all new parents, coming into the U6s (and U5s) age group. Our AGMs are so important to the smooth running to our Youth section, and we’re very grateful for all of your hard work- keep it up!

Matt Snudden and the Ladies continue to work hard, and plans are well underway for increasing numbers. Lockdown could not have come at a worse time for our Ladies team really, as we had built some great momentum, with good numbers at training and a Touch 10s tournament, but I’m confident they can pick up where they left off, and continue to flourish.

I had a very pleasing conversation yesterday with Sammie Phillips, our resident Touch Rugby expert, and we are looking at providing a Touch rugby section alongside our traditional offerings later in the season. We lose a lot of kids from the sport at ages 9 and 10, who may not enjoy the contact element of the sport for a variety of reasons, and this will hopefully act as a vehicle to keep them involved at Maids, either to continue playing Touch, where they can develop their technical skills further, or potentially even return to contact at a later date, when they feel comfortable. Either way, I believe this could be a great option, and another pioneering initiative from the Club, masterminded by Sammie.

For our Seniors, we have this week, formally accepted an invitation to participate in a mini-league, when rugby is allowed (hopefully soon!). This will place us in a cluster with Old Haberdashers, Hammersmith and Fulham, Amersham and Chiltern, Belsize Park and Beaconsfield. This will likely, though not confirmed, be an adapted form of the game, with minimal scrums and mauls, and when I hear more, I will of course update you all. I want to assure all of our supporters and sponsors, that as soon as we are given the green light, we will be looking to get as much rugby for our players and fans as we can, and outside of this mini-league, there will be opportunities for tournaments, friendlies, 7s and 10s, going past the traditional season end date in April.

Well, that’s it from me, I know times are testing at the moment, but I’m certain there is light at the end of the tunnel. Please keep supporting our club, keep the energy and engagement high, and I know we’ll all come through this stronger than ever. As always, if you have any questions, ideas or requests, please do feel free to reach out, any time at mparrott@maidenheadrfc.co.uk

Take care,

Myke Parrott, Director of Rugby

#bleedmagenta

Director of Rugby Update

DoR Update

Hello Everyone, I sincerely hope that all our members, players and supporters are keeping well in these very strange times.

I ended my last piece, in the genuine hope that my next update would include a definitive league start date, with some progress reports from pre-season training, but alas, we are sadly some way off that yet, I am afraid.

However, despite the challenges we are currently facing, there are some wonderful things that we are doing as a club, and I want to begin, by telling you all about the quite fantastic bunch we have, in our now reinvigorated Ladies section…

Just 3 weeks ago, we did not have a Ladies team, but last night, we welcomed 21 members down to training, in a session led by Men’s Head Coach, Mobbsy, ahead of their maiden Touch Tournament tomorrow. They will compete against the Ladies teams from High Wycombe, Rams, Abbey, Windsor and Maidenhead Mohawks, and I very much hope they get the fantastic support and reception they deserve.

I am delighted to welcome Matt Snudden to the Coaching team at Maids, who will be responsible for the Ladies team moving forward. Matt has very relevant experience for this role, having taking up similar posts with Oxfordshire Ladies, Sherborne, Queen Mary Uni, and Royal Holloway Uni. Welcome to the Maidenhead family Matt, you’ve made a great choice!

We do not currently have in place at the club, a pathway for our young girls to play at Maidenhead, following U12s, which is something I want to change. Along with Directors of Youth and Minis respectively, Mike Andrew and Woji, and also new Director of Player Development, Duncan Jones, we are forging ahead with plans to establish Girls’ teams at the Under 13, 15 and 17s age groups, and cater for everyone at our great club.

I continue to be amazed at the enthusiasm, numbers and fun that our Junior section continue to produce every week, and what a quite lovely problem we have that such are the growing numbers in the Under 6s, that we need more Coaches! Look out for a couple of old boys on Sunday morning being run ragged by 20 5 year-olds, as myself and Mike Andrew attempt to help run a session 🙂

The Under 16s had another very successful Touch Tournament on the AGP on Sunday, where they welcomed Bracknell- it’s great to see the players being able to engage in some kind of inter-club competition, a big well done to all involved.

If you feel that you would like to assist with Coaching in our Youth section at Maidenhead, then please do get in contact, as we always need more volunteers.

From myself and the Committee, a massive thanks to all of our wonderful age group Coaches and Managers- you are producing Maidenhead Legends of the future, and we are so lucky to have you all.

On Tuesday night, myself, Mobbsy, Mike Andrew, Woji and Dave Pepper (Club Coaching Co-ordinator) had an extremely productive meeting, whereby we started the planning for a comprehensive framework for Coaching across the club. We are looking to implement this framework, and provide all of our Club Coaches this robust structure, which will outline standardised features, such as rugby terminology, technical and tactical development, extensive content, developmental milestones, coaching philosophies and club ethos. I look forward to reporting back on our progress with this, in due course.

In the Seniors, though the players had this week off to rest, we enjoyed a fantastic day of Touch rugby last weekend, where we welcomed Championship side, London Scottish, Jamaica Crocs and Amersham. It was a day of extremely high-quality rugby, which players and supporters thoroughly enjoyed.

I am very proud to announce, that Ben Mitchell will be taking over from myself as 1st XV Captain next season. We have some outstanding leaders in our squad, such as Mark Darlington, Andy Berry, Ed Keohane, Will Runciman, Will Macaulay and others, and I know they will give Ben the same awesome backing and support that they gave me, through my time as skipper. Congratulations Ben, and good luck!

As is always the way, we do sadly have to announce some departures from our Senior squad, detailed here:

-Andy Darlington- our much-loved International Tight-head has emigrated back to the Netherlands with fiance, Nell. Andy, quite simply, has been awesome for us these last 3 seasons, on and off the pitch, and we’ll miss him and Nell very much.

-Sam Hallett- after a frustrating injury, Sam is now semi-retired. Another big loss for the club, Sam always took the time to have a chat with everyone at the club, and the post-training bar, will sadly never be the same.

-Ross Muil- an outstanding young Maids boy, Ross has left, temporarily to finish University…gone, but not for long!

-Sam Rawsthorne- another who struggled with recent injuries, Sam is taking some time out to rest the body a bit. A player that we hope to see in the future!

-Joe Parkin- the RAF Scrum-half has opted to move to Chinnor in National 1, and test himself at a higher level.

We wish these lads all the very best, and hope to welcome them back to Maids some day, either as players or supporters. Thanks for everything you did for us boys, we really appreciate it!

However, we have made some brilliant additions to the squad, and continue to keep a very strong core of home-grown Maids boys in the side. Some of our latest recruits include:

James Macaulay- James has so often been the thorn in our side from Berkshire derbies over recent years. A very strong-scrummaging Tight Head prop, with a great work rate, we are chuffed that James has chosen to join us from local rivals, Newbury.

Liam Gilbert- another who has played against Maids in recent years, Liam Gilbert joins from Chinnor, after a spell as player/coach with hometown club, Salisbury. Liam is a former skipper at Chinnor, a superb lineout operator, who plays second row and number 8.

Will Cadden- former fans’ favourite is a returning Maids boy, who left the club 2 years ago to join Championship team, Richmond. Cadden is a hard-hitting, hard-running back row forward, who has also represented Norway. It’s brilliant to have him back home, albeit with far less hair.

Joe Keohane- England U18 starlet Keohane has committed to home-club, Maids for next season, after leaving London Irish in the summer. Joe joins brother, Ed in the squad, and plies his trade in the front row.

Nic Jones- another returnee, former Colts Captain, and 1st XV hooker, Nic Jones is back at the club after a couple of seasons out. He provides even more depth in the hooking department in the Senior squad for next year.

Josh Ashby-Moscardini- after moving to the area, we are delighted that Josh has opted to come to Maids- he will give further versatility to our back line, being able to cover 10, full back and centre. Josh has previously played in the Welsh Premiership for Bargoed, and has been part of the famous Welsh invitational team, Crawshays.

Will Lawrence- this young Maids magician made his debut for Maidenhead 1st XV at the tender age of 18, before moving to Leeds, for University. Equally adept at 9, 10 or 15, Will is even better than before, and we’re confident will be a vital cog in the Maids machine, for years to come.

Lewis Jones- yet another, who has decided to return home to Braywick. Fondly known as ‘Pumba’, he plays hooker and Tight Head, and comes with plenty of 1st team experience.

David Kilcoyne- A dead ringer for Jonny Bairstow, David joins from Hampshire side, Tottonians. He is a back 3 player, who is now also Head of Rugby at local secondary school, Desborough.

A huge welcome to all of our new and returning players, which seems to be increasing every week currently! We have a few more additions to the squad which I can hopefully share with you in my next update.

I very much hope to see lots of you down the club tomorrow, supporting the Ladies, and do remember, that if I can help in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me at mparrott@maidenheadrfc.co.uk

#bleedmagenta

Director of Rugby Update

Dear All,

Following the club AGM on 30th July, I am extremely proud to have been voted in as Director of Rugby at our special club, one which I was first a part of as a youngster, before returning as a teenager, going on to Colts, Seniors, followed by the most amazing honour of skippering the 1st XV, for the previous 5 seasons.

I must begin this update by expressing my immense gratitude for all the support I received over those 5 seasons, from supporters, players, the Committee and also my lovely family- it’s a special time in my life, which I will never forget.

Since taking up my new role 2 months ago, it’s been quite a whirlwind start, and I just hope that future updates contain some much more exciting news, relating to successful fixtures, which I’m sure you all now know, will not be occurring until January, at the earliest. It’s a tough time for everyone, but we are connected with a special bond at Maids, with lots of special people, and I know that we will all come through this, stronger and better than before.

Senior training, led by Head Coach, David Mobbs-Smith (‘Mobbsy’), ably supported by Will Greenwood, Mike Andrew and Zoran Higgins has been well attended, and you may have noticed from club social media accounts, that recent Touch 10s tournaments held at Braywick, have been a rip-roaring success, giving the club much-needed revenue over the bar.

Please do continue to support these club events as much as you can- it’s arguably the most perilous time in our long history, and I can’t imagine we have ever gone so long without competitive rugby at Braywick (no doubt Geoff will correct me if this is wrong), and we really need every penny we can generate.

You may also have noticed from our social media, that many of our Senior squad have gained sponsorship for the upcoming season, and I cannot thank our sponsors enough for their generosity and continued support! If you would like to sponsor a player for next season, we have a few lads still available, so contact me on the email address below, to register your interest.

I am delighted to have made some excellent additions to the playing squad for next season, details of which will be released in the coming weeks, with some pictures and bios, when finalised.

We have made some quality additions to the backroom staff as well, with Duncan Jones agreeing to step up as Director of Player Development at Braywick- he’ll be aiding the growth of our Ladies’ section, helping create a pathway from Colts to Seniors, and also overseeing our Schools’ program. Duncan has tragically had to retire from playing, following a very nasty elbow dislocation last season, but I am chuffed to bits that he’s agreed to stick around, and I look forward to working alongside him.

I’m also very excited about welcoming back a couple of club legends, Mark Bates and Steve Prince to the Senior section- they’ll be supporting the squads on Matchdays, and having a couple of passionate Maids old boys knocking about can only have a positive effect on the squad in my opinion. They are 2 great blokes, with a brilliant sense of humour, and I know the lads look forward to spending a bit more time with them (apart from Prinny’s sons).

In the Juniors, Mike Andrew and Woji continue to do an absolutely sterling job with getting them up and running, and it’s quite brilliant to see so many smiling faces at the club, back on Sunday mornings…well done all! This coming Sunday, voluntarily manned by Senior players, Phil Wells and Jon Cranton, the horsebox will be out ready, serving coffee, so please go and say hello, and maybe treat your Age Group Coaches and Managers to some much-needed caffeine.

A special shout out to the wonderful under 7s, who I was able to watch last week, as my daughter Isla joined up with them for the first time- we are so lucky to have so many brilliant, friendly volunteers who made a couple of newbies feel very welcome. Oh, and the chocolate run…genius!!!

With the aim of helping develop our Youth coaches, and give some new ideas, we have started a Maidenhead RFC ‘Coaches Corner’ Whatsapp group, where we will be posting regular content from the Seniors. Present in the group, is Head Coach, Mobbsy, so if you have any coaching-related questions, please ask away- I know he’d be delighted to help. Your age group managers should be able to provide you with a link to this group, but if not, drop me a message.

Finally, subs are due! Now, more than ever, it is so vital that we get this money in as soon as we can. Nobody is exempt from paying subs- every single player pays, I pay, and even Boughie, our Chairman, who gives more time than anyone else to the club, pays their subs. Let’s get this done- no excuses!

Well, that’s it from me for now, please don’t hesitate to contact me, if you feel there’s something I can assist with, and hopefully my next update, will be planning our return to league action!

Myke

mparrott@maidenheadrfc.co.uk

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